Machines are known for the automatic or semi-automatic production of structural elements for the building trade made of cement material and provided with inserts of polystyrene, such as blocks or bricks, having good characteristics of lightness and heat insulation.
Known machines provide a mold which is closed at the top, inside which the polystyrene inserts are previously loaded, by abutment insertion from below. Insertion from below entails considerable mechanical and operational complications for the machine.
The mold is then closed on its lower side by means of a plate, so as to define one or more closed molding compartments and to clamp the polystyrene inserts in height inside the relative compartments.
Finally, known machines provide to make a cast of cement material inside the closed molding compartments, so as to define an equal number of structural elements, each incorporating a relative polystyrene insert.
The known solution, since it has to define closed compartments of a predefined height in order to guarantee uniformity in height of the structural elements, causes a considerable increase in production times, with the need to provide a pressurized cast of cement material inside the compartments.
Furthermore, if the polystyrene insert includes undercut insertions and/or shapings, such as for example dove-tailed ribs or suchlike, the cast does not ensure the complete and correct penetration of the cement material into all the interstices defined, thus considerably lowering the quality of the final product. Therefore, it is known to provide high pressure casts and/or repeated casts, with a consequent increase in both production times and costs, without in any case obtaining a totally satisfactory result.
Purpose of the present invention is to achieve a machine, and perfect a method, that allow to achieve structural elements for the building trade with one or more polymer inserts, simply and effectively, reducing both times and costs of production with respect to state of the art machines. The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.